Re: Thumb grips

I would approach this the same way that I approach bleeds with XSL-FO:
 using absolutely-positioned block containers.  This construct will
allow you to position any rectangular marks you need by positioning
and sizing the block container, then filling it with a bordered area.
The sizing can be done arithmetically in your XSLT, so you should have
no problems.

I hope this helps.

. . . . . . . . . . . Ken

On Thu, Jan 15, 2009 at 09:55, Gustaf Liljegren <gustaf@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> Hi all,
>
> Not sure if "thumb grips" is really the term... :-) I once helped publish an
> annual reference book with XSL FO where parts of the right margin is punched
> out, like in a phone book. The printer/bookbinder needs line marks in the
> PDF at the points where the thumb grips need to be punched out. I use to do
> this by manually adding comments in the PDF. That is, I draw short
> horizontal lines near the outer margin at a dozen places in the finished
> PDF.
>
> The printer is always grumpy about me using PDF comments for these markings,
> but I'm not sure if it's possible to do in PDF. That's my question: is it
> possible in XSL FO to add horizontal lines with a certain length, at exact
> locations in the outer margin on each page immediately preceding a new
> chapter?
>
> The stylesheet manages to add labels to the thumb grips, by dividing the
> page height with the number of chapters. Each thumb grip may be equal in
> height. I'd like to hear your ideas on how to to solve this in XSL FO.
>
> Gustaf
>
>



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